My Public and Private School Experience

When I started school I was a kindergartner at Calvary Christian School. It is a private school with about 200-300 students. I went from kindergarten until my freshman year was over. The dress code was a red, white, or blue polo shirt with a Navy Gabardine Box Pleated Jumper or Hamilton Plaid Knife Pleated Jumper for girls from kinder to eighth grade. The boys wore the same shirts with Navy Hawthorne Pleated pants from kinder to senior year. Once a girl reached 9th-12th grade they would wear skirts. The school subjects did not have a variety to choose from. Bible, Math, History, Science, P.E. and Fine Arts were the main classes provided. We all took the same classes together while not having the option of taking any ap classes.

I joined the volleyball team but due to my grades my 9th grade year I could not play and I found out on the last day of school that I was going to have to take summer school or get held back. My parents didn’t take that well at all and decided to take me out. I was shocked about the news and began to worry about what is going to happen for the next school year and were I was going to attend. Luckily my mom works for the Beaumont school district and I got transfered over to Beaumont High School because at the time we were living in Banning Ca. I knew that getting adjusted to a new school and people was going to be nerve wracking but I will be gaining a new experience I never had before and I may end up liking it.

Beaumont High School had around 2,000-3,000 students, no dress code limitations, counselors and a variety of classes to take. The first day of high school came around I was nervous but excited. When I got ready I remember wearing a black and white t-shirt with light blue shorts and some vans. The first day was a bit embarrassing because my fly was down the entire time and I never noticed it until I dressed out for P.E. even though we weren’t even supposed to dress out. As the weeks and months went by I felt more comfortable, I got used to it very quickly and made new friends along the way.

What I learned about diversity from my point of view was the change and the adaptation I was going to have to make. I think that change is very good because it can help you grow, offer new opportunities, it can show progress and new beginnings. Others have helped me with encouragement about going to public school. My family would talk about some things they went through. My Aunt Anita in particular told me that she had to get adjusted to high school when she went while being in public all of her life. She said “ Everyone goes through different stages in their life and starting of high school is one of them and you will get through it and it will be a breeze as time goes on.”

I think talking to others about my situation was very beneficial because I got a look of what some of my family have went through and also one of my friends that was currently attending Calvary Christian School. Sarah Weeks and I were the only ones that stayed at that school until high school and we always thought we were going to graduate together. I attended her graduation and it was crazy seeing her up their and realizing we are finishing high school separately. We were both happy and sad that we didn’t graduate together but most importantly were still friends and still reminisce on the little things that happened throughout the years.

What I learned the most from attending both of these schools is that you can succeed wherever you go and still learn new things in the process you just have to be determined wherever you go and learn from it. I believe that my experience can show others what kind of change I went through and it ended up being very positive than I thought and people should be open to it in different situations and they should step out of their comfort zone once in awhile because you can gain something out of it and can also share your own story to others whether it be good or bad because every experience is different.

I have always wondered how different it would be if I went to public school first and eventually being placed in a private school because it would be a very different encounter and just adjusting to a new routine would take time for me to get used to. My sister was placed in private school for about a year and then started in public and will continue to go there. She is in the first grade right now, but it’s interesting to know how different both of our experiences were from each others. I would say going to public school has helped me become open to meeting new people and talking to others.

I remember being very shy and to myself most of the time but eventually got the courage to be more outgoing. I think going to the private school for so long I was already used to everyone so I wasn’t as shy and to myself because I knew a lot of the people at such a young age. It was hard at first because I didn’t know anyone from bhs and I had to put myself more out there and I really didn’t want to. By opening myself to others I felt like they were really understanding who I am and what type of person I was which made made everything positive.

Going to completely different schools is hard but it is doable if you put yourself out there you may have to change somethings in your daily life than you are used to but it can be beneficial to you and give you a new perspective like the school topics, dress code and the different types of people you encounter.